Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Khilji-style

Even as Mr Buddhadev Bhattacharjee insisted there was no way the state could backtrack on Singur, his land and land reforms minister made clear what he thought about the way the government was going about the business of acquiring land.

Mr Abdur Razzak Molla seemingly had the chief minister and commerce and industries minister Mr Nirupam Sen in mind when he said that land acquisition could not be done in “Khilji style” by steamrolling opposition from land owners. “Some of us seem to think that plots of land can be acquired in the medieval manner of Alauddin Khilji (a 13th-14th century ruler of Delhi). Even the ryots (tenants) have rights. We cannot afford to be so arrogant. We have to convince people first before going about procuring land,” he said while speaking about land acquisition in the South 24-Parganas district of West Bengal.